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This famous work on the population growth of the United States, originally published by the Bureau of the Census, is the statistical and historical basis of the greatest pool of genealogical information in existence--the U.S. Census. Included is a set of maps of the original thirteen states, plus Kentucky and Tennessee, showing the changes in county boundaries, 1790-1900. Also there is a table of 4,000 surnames most frequently found in the 1790 census which shows spelling variations and the frequency of occurrence of the names in the various states and territories.

The bulk of the work is an examination of the following subjects: the population before 1790; the distribution of the population in the states and territories; the population in the counties and subdivisions; the white and negro population; sex and age of the population; the family in 1790; surname distribution in 1790; nationalities of the heads of families; nationalities of the foreign-born population at different times 1790-1900; interstate migration--an analysis of population by place of residence and birth.

Supporting these studies is a vast amount of information on the social and economic factors inherent in the returns, with statistical analysis of all the enumerations 1790-1900. Also there are tables and charts based on state enumerations showing population statistics before 1790, and there are similar tables derived from 1790-1900 censuses showing characteristics of the white, Negro, and foreign-born population.